John 3:9-13

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 

11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 

12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 

13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 

How Can These Things Be? Final Answer…..Jesus

“How can these things be?” This was Nicodemus’ reaction after Jesus spoke to Him about being “born of water and the Spirit” in the previous verses. He didn’t understand. Jesus challenged Nicodemus again with a question. Paraphrasing, “How are you a teacher of the law and you don’t understand the things I’m saying to you? You should know all this.” Of course, Jesus knew exactly why and how Nicodemus didn’t understand. This was just a challenge to Nicodemus to further study, and gain more understanding of the scriptures. This also tells us that Jesus isn’t teaching something new that is not found in Old Testament prophecy. It was there. The Jews had just not fully understood the scriptures. The Jews had missed the message. They knew the law, but they didn’t understand it the way that they thought they did. In verse 11, Jesus very plainly says, paraphrasing in my words, “Hey, WE are only telling you what WE know and have seen, and you (plural to mean all Jews) will not accept OUR message.” This is big, because when Jesus says “We” and “Our”, He is referring to He and God, His Father. Assuming that Nicodemus knew what Jesus meant by “We” and “Our”, that had to be a bombshell. “God and I are telling you (Jews) what to do, and you won’t accept it.” Doesn’t that sound like the world today? They can plainly be shown what God’s Word says, but they just won’t accept it. Example….baptism. You can show them all the examples in the Bible of people being baptized for the remission of sins. You can show them every verse that references baptism as the doorway into Christ and into the Lord’s church, but they are just blind to it in exactly the same way that the Jews were blind to what Jesus taught 2000ish years ago. It is so sad. Or…..like myself for many years, we can know it and be raised in it, and choose to put it on the back burner of our lives while we enjoy worldly pleasures…..while we put basically everything in front of God. Wow, am I ever ashamed of that period of my life! What can I say? I finally grew up, and put away childish things. Although I still fail daily, I pick myself up and press on. 

Moving on, Jesus makes another challenging statement/question in verse 12. Paraphrasing, “How can you expect to believe spiritual things when you don’t even believe the physical things that you have seen?” Jesus had been performing all these miracles, and the people still didn’t truly believe in Him enough to actually change their hearts and lives (John 2:23-24). They only wanted to follow Jesus to get some kind of physical satisfaction from Him. What can Jesus do for me? Or what can I witness Jesus do so that I can have a story to tell my friends who missed it? It was a very shallow type of belief, not a true grounded belief in who Jesus was. Even with miracles, the majority didn’t truly believe, so they certainly weren’t going to believe His teachings on spiritual things. Now on to verse 13. I had a little trouble understanding this verse, but with some further study, I understand it better. My digging took me first to Proverbs 30:4 which could be the prophetic scripture that Jesus is referring to, “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?……..What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?” Paraphrasing Jesus’ words, “no one else has descended from heaven to be able to bring you this message, only Me. Who else is there for you (Jews) to believe?” Then, my digging took me to Deuteronomy 30:1-3 where Moses says, paraphrasing, that obedience would bring them back into a relationship with God. Then in Deut. 30:6, Moses says that God will circumcise their hearts so that they will love the Lord with all their hearts and souls so that they may live. This is the transformed “born again” life that Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus about. Then, in Deut. 30:11, Moses says that the commands are not too hard for them to keep, but how? The answer comes in Deut. 30:12-14, “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” Paraphrasing, “you don’t have to go to heaven to retrieve the message, because Jesus is coming to earth to bring the message in person. He will put the words in your heart (mind)”. “You’ll understand someday” is basically what Moses is saying to them. Of course, we know that everyone did not understand until after His death. Then the Holy Spirit came and put the words in the “mouths” and in the “hearts” of the apostles on Pentecost. Then they wrote it all down for us, and it is in our hearts this very day. It should be in our mouths as well. We should be talking about God’s word more and worldly things less. I’m speaking to myself here. Sisters, we are the “mouths” today. God wants us to spread His message just as much as He wanted His apostles to spread it. He needs us to spread it. He doesn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). So…..as the world gets more corrupt and further away from God, what do we do? We continue to set the example…..no matter how much hate we get for it. We continue to stand up for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ…..no matter what. I ask myself, am I doing all that I can? Is the love of Jesus showing forth within me? Sometimes the love of Jesus is what we call “tough love”, because no one wants to hear that they are lost. As human beings, we don’t like to be proven wrong, do we? But…..are we truly loving them if we don’t tell them? What if a person was walking towards a bottomless pit, and they couldn’t see it and didn’t know it was there, but we did? Wouldn’t we try to stop them from falling into it? Of course we would! Or…..let’s turn the tables…..would we want someone to stop us and our loved ones from falling into it? Same answer…..of course we would! I hope this gives you some encouragement today to keep pressing on in your Christian life, and keep trying to shine the light of Jesus to others. I hope it encourages you to never give up on anyone in this life. If we have done all we can to help a person understand the truth, but it seems as though he/she isn’t going to accept it, let’s never forget that we still have the avenue of prayer. We keep praying for the person…..always. The example of what Jesus prayed on the cross is so humbling. He prayed for the people who rejected Him, mocked Him, beat Him, scourged Him, nailed Him to a cross, and killed Him. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Wow…..the love of Jesus is unmatched. How lucky we are to have Jesus for our Savior, and God for our Father. 

God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! 

Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? If you aren’t, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)